Korean Journal of Agricultural Science ISSN:2466-2402(Print) 2466-2410(Online) 농업과학연구

This study investigated the effect of fiber fractions on growth performance and the incidence of diarrhea in weaning pigs under poor sanitary conditions. In total, one hundred forty-four 28-day-old male pigs were randomly allocated to six dietary treatments to give six replicates per treatment with four pigs per pen. All diets were formulated based on corn, wheat, and soybean meal to meet nutrition specifications. Average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) were measured every week. The incidence of diarrhea expressed as the proportion of days with diarrhea, which was measured for 14 d (i.e., pen basis). Data were analyzed with a completely randomized block design using the general linear model procedure of ANOVA for environmental effect and diet effect under poor sanitary conditions. Piglets reared under sanitary conditions had a higher ADG and ADFI and a lower incidence of diarrhea (p < 0.05) compared with the poor sanitary conditions. Xylo-oligosaccharide (XOS) treatment with xylanase had a higher ADG and improved feed conversion (p < 0.05) compared to their counterparts. The results indicate that housing pigs under poor sanitary conditions increase the negative response. XOS treatment with xylanase, which stimulates arabinoxylan utilizing microbiota, can be a strategy to reduce the negative impact of high microbial loads in commercial production systems.